


Difficult Language

by ami_ven



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Fluff, Gift Fic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:06:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27260941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ami_ven/pseuds/ami_ven
Summary: Rodney hated John’s nightmares.
Relationships: Rodney McKay/John Sheppard
Comments: 22
Kudos: 88





	Difficult Language

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Goddess47](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goddess47/gifts).



> Written as a (very, very) late birthday present for LJ user "goddess47"

Rodney hated John’s nightmares.

Not as much as _John_ hated them, he was sure, but he was much better with problems he could fix, and he thought of psychology as even more voodoo quackery than medical so-called science.

But John was worth the effort of slogging his way through textbooks and articles on dreams and brain functions and PTSD – which John didn’t really have except in the way they all did – then more textbooks and articles about causes and triggers and the best ways to wake someone having a nightmare.

So, when Rodney blinked awake to John twitching and moaning in his sleep, he just pressed gently closer, hand flat on John’s shaking shoulder, repeating his name in a low, even tone until John woke with a gasp.

“Rodney,” he rasped, blinking against the lingering nightmare. 

“I’m here,” Rodney said, quickly. “I’m here, I’m okay, you’re okay.”

He held still while John’s hands skimmed over his body, checking for whatever injuries his sleeping brain had imagined, and when they slowed Rodney caught them both in his own.

“I’m okay,” he repeated.

John tilted forward until his forehead was resting on Rodney’s breastbone, right over his heart. Rodney released John’s hands to sweep his own over John’s shoulders, until the muscles began to relax under his touch and John’s rapid heartbeat began to slow.

“Better?” he asked.

John sat up and managed a smile. “Why do you keep saying you’re bad with people when you always know the right thing to do for me?”

“I _am_ bad with people,” Rodney protested. “I only know what to do with _you_.”

“Yeah?” John asked, smile brightening.

Rodney smiled back. “It was a difficult language to learn, but I’m now fully fluent in Sheppard.”

“Well, you are a genius,” John said, and kissed him.

THE END


End file.
